There’s a place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that’s surrounded by trees and covered by layers of graffiti. Long ago, this was a very different place: the Gordon Park Bathhouse. It was a place built for outdoor recreation and doomed by industrial pollution, and today, it’s a place to get a small glimpse of Milwaukee’s past and see some Wisconsin ruins. Here’s the story of Milwaukee’s Gordon Park Bathhouse.

The Gordon Park Bathhouse was once a hub of civic pride and recreation along the Milwaukee River.
Google / Aubry Schaefer
The river stretches over 100 miles from Fond du Lac County to Milwaukee and as it nears Lake Michigan, it was once an ideal place for swimming.
Constructed in 1913 at a cost of $25,000, the Gordon Park bathhouse was built to provide an escape for city residents.
Google / Kevin Moore
It was an all-season facility that was home to hockey games in the winter and refreshing swims in warmer months.
It was a busy place that accommodated big crowds for events like all-city swim meets and winter ice festivals in the 1920s.
Google / Tim Salmon
It had 300 lockers and facilities for skaters and swimmers.

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The place was popular, but it was also doomed, as the river was also a place for other kinds of development.
Google / Aubry Schaefer
Over the years it industrialized, with mills, tanneries, and breweries lining its banks. This rapid urbanization and industrialization took a toll on the river's water quality, leading to pollution and environmental degradation.
Eventually the river was no longer safe for swimming, and in 1937 the facility permanently closed.
Google / Aubry Schaefer
In the 1970s, after years of vandalism, it was demolished.
Today, there isn’t a lot left of the bathhouse – you can see the stairs and retaining wall, but it takes some imagination to picture speed skating events or huge crowds of summer swimmers.
Google / Aubry Schaefer
But if you love exploring urban ruins and graffiti, you may want to pay this old bath house a visit.

When I was a young child, I spent some time exploring the river banks across from these Wisconsin ruins with my dad. The river was in rough shape in those days – I remember seeing a lot of shopping carts stuck in water that resembled thick pea soup. The river sill has serious challenges, but there have been some improvements in water quality over the decades, which is good to see. Planning a trip to explore Wisconsin’s waterways? Here are some must-haves for nature lovers.

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Gordon Park Bath House - Historic Ruins, 2828 N Humboldt Blvd, Milwaukee, WI 53212, USA